What is it about this girl? (You are something else)
by seaweed-crackerjacks
Summary: Jade goes to Tori's house expecting an easy night but then Tori flips on her and questions her about Love. The night takes an unexpected turn that Jade didn't want to take until... never. - (What do I know about Love?)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N1:** Right. Set in the last episode of Victorious (SUPER SAD!) - _italicized are Jade's thoughts._ I don't even know what this is.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Victorious, its characters, or anything. I hardly own myself?

Enjoy. (I hope?)

* * *

_This is probably one of the dumbest assignments that Sikowitz has assigned. Like, seriously? Say yes to everything? Come on!_

Jade shakes her head and scowls on her way out the door. She can't even deal with this right now and, hopefully, she doesn't have to actually participate if no one talks to her.

She's about to round the corner when she hears Beck and Tori talking. She stops and listens. Because Beck sounds excited (while talking to Tori) and that can't mean anything good for her.

"So, you know how I love drag racing, right?" Beck asks, excitedly. Jade scoffs, _not this again_.

"Uh, no. Actually, I don't." Tori replies, sounding hesitant. Jade smirks, _she doesn't like it either, Beck_.

"Oh, well, anyway. Yeah, I love drag racing, and Jade doesn't." _God, he sounds way too fucking excited._

"Okay... And?" _Get to the point already, Beck!_

"_And_... You know how Sikowitz told us to say _yes_ to everything?" _If he sounds any more excited, I'm going to explode._

Tori nods skeptically and says, "Beck, are you sure about that?"

"This is perfect, Tori! I've got two tickets and as soon as I see her I'm going to invite her and she _has_ to say yes!" _I'm going to fucking smack him._

"Beck, I don't -" Tori starts but Jade rounds the corner and interrupts.

"Tori! Hey, remember when you asked me earlier to come over to your house and help you make pizza?"

Tori looks confused and shakes her head in the negative, "Uh, no. I don't remember ever asking you that?"

"Of course you do! Remember? Please, remember? I need you to remember." _God, can I sound any more desperate? _

Tori's eyes widen when she (_finally_) catches on, "Oh! Right! Yeah, of course. Can you come over at 7?" She asks, slightly unsure.

Jade smiles in relief, "Yes, 7! I'll see you then." She begins to walk away and smirks at Beck's bewildered expression, "Oh, hey Beck."

_Yeah, how do you like that, Beck? _

X

At 7:09pm, Jade knocks on Tori's door. She didn't _have_ to knock – she could have just walked in – but she did kind of push Tori into this so she might as well be courteous and knock.

When Tori opens the door, the shocked expression that graces her face is a pleasant one. She wasn't expecting Jade.

"Jade! I didn't actually think you'd come." Tori says, her brows furrowing slightly.

Jade smirks, "Of course I'd come. You're making pizza." When Tori's eyes widen, Jade can't help but laugh.

"Oh, right. You're helping though, right?" _Yeah, helping._ Jade shrugs and smiles, but doesn't say anything. When Tori doesn't move and let her in, Jade cocks an eyebrow.

"You gonna let me in, or what?"

"Yeah! Sorry. I'm a little out of it right now, sorry." Tori mutters as she opens the door wider to let Jade in.

Jade walks in and walks over to one of the couches and drops her bag. She turns to look at Tori and watches as the confused girl closes the door slowly and seems to be muttering to herself. _This is going to be great._

She watches as Tori walks past Jade to the kitchen and starts looking through the cupboards, pulling out supplies. Bowls, cups, flour, sugar, and other stuff are pulled out and placed on the counter as Tori frowns.

As much as Jade loves when Tori's upset, she kind of being a downer and ruining Jade's mood.

"Hey, you okay over there?" Jade calls out, raising her eyebrows when Tori slightly flinches.

"Huh, what?" Tori looks at her, frowning.

Jade takes a few steps forward, "I asked if you're okay?"

Tori shakes her head and forces a smile, "Yeah, I'm fine." She steps toward the island and asks if Jade could Google how to make pizza dough.

"Yeah, sure. Let me just get my laptop out." Jade squints her eyes and walks to her bag, pulling out her laptop. She walks back to the steps and sits, glancing at Tori through the corner of her eye as her laptop powers on.

Something is up with Tori and it's bothering the hell out of Jade. She's going to get to the bottom of this, even if she has to force (_really, Jade? Like you were going to do anything else.)_ it out of her.

But, first, Jade's going to try and get a rise out of the girl. So as she reads the ingredients off to Tori, when she gets to flour, instead of saying 4 cups, she says 4 pounds. Tori doesn't even question it.

Tori doesn't say anything until she's trying to knead the dough. "Uh, Jade?"

"Hmm?" Jade hums, not bothering to look up.

"This seems like a lot of dough... Are you sure it said 4 _pounds_ of flour?" Tori asks, grunting as she lifts the dough to the counter.

"Did I say 4 _pounds_? My bad, I meant 4 _cups_." Jade turns to look at Tori and offers her a half-smile that she hopes is slightly apologetic.

Tori smiles back – it seems amused – and shakes her head. "Really, Jade? Look at this blob! We can make, like, 10 pizzas with it!"

Jade chuckles and shrugs her shoulders, "Yeah, well. We'll be -"

The doorbell ringing interrupts her. Jade gets up and walks to the door, opening it with a scowl.

"Pizza!" The pizza delivery guy says cheerfully.

"No shit. How much?" Jade grunts.

Taken aback, the delivery guy stutters, "Uh, it- that'll be, $16.75."

Turning around, Jade looks at Tori and smiles, "Hey Tori?"

"Yeah?" Tori replies from the kitchen, kneading the dough.

"Got 20 bucks?"

Tori looks up quickly and frowns, "$20?" When she sees the pizza guy, she frowns deeper, "Jade! You ordered pizza? But we were making some!"

Jade walks further into the living room and places her hands on her hips, "Yeah, that's not gonna happen. Look at the blob of dough you got there. Now give me $20."

"No!" Tori huffs.

"No?" Jade smirks, "Remember what Sikowitz said..."

Tori looks strickened as she walks over to Jade. She pulls out a $20 from her pocket and hands it to Jade, "Here." Is all she says as she walks away.

Confused, Jade turns back to the delivery guy, hands him the money, grabs her pizza and closes the door before he can say anything. She walks to the dining table and places the pizza down.

Before Jade can do or say anything, Tori speaks up.

"Why are you here, Jade?" When Jade opens her mouth to speak, Tori stops her. "Other than getting out of going with Beck; why are you here?"

There's something in Tori's eyes that makes Jade uncomfortable – which is weird, because she hardly ever feels uncomfortable around Tori.

"Because I told you I was coming over?" She didn't mean for it to come out as a question. _What the fuck is going on?_

"You didn't _have_ to come over." Tori scoffs, "But you did. And you're here. And you told me the wrong ingredients for the pizza, and you ordered your own pizza and then took my money, to pay for it." She steps away from the dough and leans against the counter, "So?"

"So... I'm here? And yeah, I did those things, but I always do those kinds of things. So why is it bothering you now?" Jade is more than annoyed right now, bordering anger. _Seriously? Is the stick up her ass higher up today?_

"It's always bothered me, Jade. I just _now_ decided to bring it up. And I'm _tired_. I'm tired of you, of everything! So if you can just toss me a bone here and answer me, that'd be really freaking great." Tori inhales deeply, trying to keep her anger under control.

Jade has never seen Tori so angry, and especially directed at her. She knew that she annoyed Tori and (purposefully) pushed her buttons, but this is just on a whole other level.

So she stands there, trying to think of what to say so that she doesn't make things worse (because she's pretty sure Tori would spontaneously combust if she was pushed any further).

She chances a glance at Tori's eyes and when they meet, something fierce tingles down her spine and spreads out to every nerve. Tori's eyes are burning, intense, with fire and anger and sadness and... something she can't place. But it sticks in Jade, smoldering.

Tori closes her eyes and breathes deeply, deeply, deeply, holding it in for as long as she can before the need to exhale powers through. Jade has never seen her this way.

"If you're not going to answer me, you can go." Tori breathes out, like a struggle.

Jade inhales deeply, too, clenching and unclenching her hands. "Tori, I don't know what you want me to say?" _Is there even anything _to _say?_

"Let me ask you something, Jade." Tori states, looking straight into Jade's eyes.

All Jade could do is nod.

"Love." Tori says without further explanation.

Jade stares at her for a minute, wondering what that is suppose to mean.

"What about it?" Jade asks, albeit hesitantly.

"What does it feel like? Love." Tori asks, breathlessly. _Weird_. "What does it feel like to _be_ in love?" Tori glances away quickly then looks back to Jade. "How does it feel?"

Jade's eyes widen; heart beating faster than it ever has; stomach churning uncontrollably.

_Oh._

_Okay. Where is she going with this?_

"Can I answer the first question you asked?" Jade asks, her voice full of hope. "About why I'm here?"

Tori huffs, puffs out her cheeks and closes her eyes. Jade can practically hear Tori counting to 10 in her head and feels her own heart pounding away. _This is too weird. Maybe I should just go._

"No." Tori finally breathes out. "No, you can't." She stares at Jade with such intensity that Jade's fairly sure something within her short circuits. "But, please. _Please_, tell me about love."

The way Tori begs her is intoxicating. _Which is also weird, because _intoxicating?_ Really, Jade?_

"I don't know what you want me to say, Tori. What do I know about love?" _Might as well be straight up honest._

Tori looks at her, with big, brown eyes and flushed cheeks. Scrutinizingly, warily, sadly. "You've... You've been with... Beck a while now, have you not?"

Jade nods.

"And do you love him?"

Jade closes her eyes and breathes in, thinking. Truly thinking. _Of course I love him_. "Yeah, I do."

Tori shrugs her shoulders and offers a smile that doesn't quite fit her lips. "So? How did you know?"

"That I loved him?" _No shit, Jade_.

Tori pulls out a stool and sits, nodding her head.

"I don't- really know. I- maybe- " Jade growls and throws up her hands, frustrated. "This is fucking weird, Tori. Why do you care?"

Other than the loudness of Tori's flinch, it's quiet. No noise coming from outside; the only noise to be heard around them is of them breathing.

Jade watches Tori with scrutinizing eyes, watching her eyes rake the room, flitting from one side to the other before finally landing on Jade's. Jade almost flinches at the exhaustion evident in Tori's eyes but she refrains. Instead she focuses on trying to regulate her heart beat, her breathing, her emotions. When she came over earlier, she was expecting an easy night... not this.

Tori shrugs, and Jade can tell she's trying not to break. "I, just do."

And really, those three words shouldn't have been enough – not even close, but they are.

With a loud sigh (_because let's be honest, I shouldn't have given in that easily_) Jade continues, "I don't really know an exact date – but who does?" Jade pulls out a chair from the dining table and sits. This could take a while.

"It could have been Friday, the 13th of May, when he woke me up singing a song he kept dreaming of. Or it could have been a month later, when he acted out dialogue he put together that he gathered from 5 different books." Jade lets a small smile form on her lips and looks away from a spot on the wall she'd been staring at while talking. She looks down at Tori and her smile falls when she sees tears in Tori's eyes.

Before Jade could comment on her tears, Tori shakes her head and weakly tells her to continue.

Jade breathes in deeply and holds it in until her lungs practically scream for air. Letting it out, Jade thinks about what else she can say.

"I think – that's when I knew I loved him, but when I realized that I was _in_ love with him? Well..." Jade trails off and chuckles softly. _I haven't thought about this in forever. And I can't believe I'm telling _Tori_ of all people. Fuck. What is it about this girl?_

_What is it about this girl?_ Question of her life.

"I was sick, and fucking pissed off because I had the best role in this play at school and it was only a two-night thing and I had to miss it. So I was at home, sulking and breaking things, and he came over with this stupid self-defense suit on." Jade looks up and shakes her, laughing lowly. "He came up to my room, smiled and said 'Your knight in self-defending armor is here!' and I swear to God I almost threw my switchblade at him."

Jade glances at Tori and her heart tightly constricts at the sight in front her. Tori's head is down, her shoulders, her body shaking, and quiet sobs are filling the room. Something in Jade wants to go to the crying girl and hold her – _which is insane, this needs to stop –_ until she stops crying, until she's calm, until she's happy.

"Tori?" Jade says quietly, hoping she can hear her.

Tori freezes, as if remembering that she isn't alone, and then lets out a shaky breath. And again. She looks up and offers a sad, watery smile. "That's..." Tori mutters shakily, "Something else."

"Is that what you wanted to hear?" Jade asks softly, unsure of what to do now.

Tori nods her head and then quickly shakes her head afterward, "No, can- can you explain love to me in a more general sense?"

Rearing her head back, Jade furrows her brows and hesitantly nods. "I can try."_ Might as well try; shit._

Staring out the kitchen window, Jade watches the lights of Los Angeles flicker and flash, blink and bounce, filling the void.

"Love is..." _This is hard; what the fuck do I know about love?_ "It's this..." Groaning, Jade closes her eyes and tries to imagine her and Beck, how she feels with him. But, she doesn't feel anything; not now, not like before. She loves Beck, but not like once upon a time. And that thought burns her heart, bringing a stinging to her eyes. _I am _not_ going to cry; not now, not about this._

Jade breathes in deeply again and lets it out, again and out, again and out. She closes her eyes and opens her mind. Letting thoughts of pushed aside feelings and emotions come forth, filling her. They're old, yet new. They're everything that scares her, yet makes her happy. They're in front of her, in the form of a crying girl staring at her with deep, brown full eyes.

_No going back now_.

"Love is scary." Jade starts but stops when Tori hiccups. She looks up at Tori but quickly looks away, knowing she'll never continue if she has to look at her.

"Love is the scariest feeling in the world. It's unexpected. It's everything you don't want to feel, yet you do. You want to feel it always; you want to live in it, bask in it, let it fill you up. You want to never feel it again. It's overwhelming." Jade lets out a shaky breath and closes her eyes.

"When you love someone, it's what gets you up in the morning when all you want to do is stay under the covers. Love is the light at the end of the tunnel. Love is pain. Love is seeing someone in a different light than everyone else. Love is what pushes people to do stupid things. Love is cups of coffees and shared smiles and holding hands and tied shoelaces and scowls and furrowed brows and crumpled up pieces of paper. Love is rejection and acceptance."

_This is it._

Jade looks up at Tori and waits til Tori meets her eyes. She makes sure to hold her stare.

"Love is explaining love to a crying girl. Love is telling someone the wrong ingredient because they don't have anything better to do. Love is getting out of spending time with a boyfriend because they'd rather spend time with a girl who they torture. Love is looking like a fool in front of a girl with the most beautiful brown eyes and smile and telling her things that she could easily reject."

The burning in Jade's eyes overwhelm her and tears leak out.

_Fuck it all. If this goes down and she rejects me, well, at least she'll have a clue of what an ass Love is._

"Love is accepting all the bad, all the things that can go wrong, and hoping that they won't. Love is hoping the good outweighs the bad. Love is... not being a complete bitch to the person they love. Love is wishing and hoping and _praying_ that the person you love loves you back... because unrequited love is heartbreaking. But it's livable. Love is..." Trailing off, Jade stands up and walks to Tori, stopping right in front of her and hesitantly reaching for her hands. When Tori doesn't pull her hands away, Jade smiles sadly and nods her head – _I can fucking do this. I came this far already._

"Love is holding your hands right now and feeling more than I ever did holding Beck's. And I loved Beck. I love him; I do, but I've never, _ever_, felt this much, for him or with him. Tori, I... Love is hard. It's scary and hard and a pain in the fucking ass, but it's the next best thing to being happy. Being happy _and_ being in love? Well, _fuck_, if it isn't the best combination then I don't know what the fuck is."

Her hands are shaking, or maybe Tori's are. Maybe both of their hands are shaking. But neither are saying anything – Tori hasn't said anything _at all_ and it's scaring Jade beyond what she thought possible.

She's about the pull her hands away but Tori's grip tightens. Jade looks down at their interlaced hands and then up to Tori's face and breathes out harshly. The light in Tori's eyes are overwhelming but combined with the most genuine smile she has ever seen on her mouth is breathtaking, and she's extremely glad that breathing is involuntary. And Jade's body fills with hope.

Tori stands and her eyes flutter as she stares into Jade's hope-filled eyes. She slowly lifts a hand to cup Jade's cheek and Jade tries her hardest not to lean into the soft touch. Tori trails her fingers down Jade's cheek and smiles softly at the twitching muscle under her fingertips.

"Jade." Tori whispers, breathing in deeply through her nose.

"Tori." Jade whispers back.

_I'm going to fucking explode, and leave a bloody mess all over Tori and her house. And God, please let her say something more than my name because just _that_ is making me feel like I deserve this._

"Say something, _please_." Jade breathes out, her heart beating in her throat.

"You," Tori says as she softly taps Jade's nose.

"Are," Tori taps Jade's forehead.

"Something," Tori taps Jade's chin.

"Else." Tori taps Jade's bottom lip.

At that, Jade's lips part and she tries to suck in Tori's finger but Tori pulls away and laughs softly, shaking her head no.

"No, no." She breathes out, shakily. "You are still with Beck."_ Fuck Beck._

Jade groans and drops her head onto Tori's shoulder. "Right."

Jade feels Tori wrap her arms around her neck and she sighs contentedly. But, snaps her head up when she realizes what Tori just said.

"Wait. Does- does this mean... what I think it does?" _'Cause if not, God better be fucking ready._

Tori smiles warmly and shrugs her shoulders in what she hopes is nonchalantly, "It might be, yeah."

_She just might kill me._

"You're lucky, Vega. It's taking everything in me right now to not say _Fuck It_ and kiss the hell out of you." Jade groans out as her head falls back onto Tori's shoulder.

She feels more than hears Tori's laugh and quiet reply of "Don't tempt me."

_What _is_ it about this girl? _

* * *

**A/N2:** So this wasn't too bad, right? I hope not. I hope it was alright.

Review! It'd be really rockin' if you did (and I mean, even if you just _read_ this story, it's rockin').

Thanks. Let me know what you thought, you know? I mean, that'd be cool... It's also cool if you don't want to.

Your feelings on the ending of Victorious? (I'm still super fucking sad about it.)


	2. Chapter 2

It's been one week.

It has been one week since that night at Tori's house and Jade hasn't spoken much to her, or anyone for that matter. Not even Beck. Jade knows she should; she should – needs to – breakup with him, because even though she almost – and she's extremely glad Tori stopped her – cheated, she's not a cheater.

Jade's not. And even thought confessing your feelings to another person while in a relationship isn't technically cheating, she kind of feels like she is.

So yeah, she needs to talk to him. And now seems like the best time, since he's at his locker right now.

Jade reluctantly walks – _God, when do I ever walk reluctantly?_ - toward Beck and clears her throat. Beck quickly turns and gives her a hesitant grin.

"Oh. Hey, Jade."

_Great. This is great._ "Beck..." Jade greets.

_Awkward silence... God, when was the last time we've had an awkward silence like this?_

"Uh, what's up?" He offers. _Yeah, like that helps._

"Not much." _COME ON! We can do better than this. Just get on with it._ "Actually, I wanted to talk."

Beck's face falls at her words, but he quickly tries to hide it. "Yeah, sure. Now?" He half-smiles.

"Yes. Now'd be best." Jade says, unsure.

Beck nods his head. He shoulders his backpack and waves to someone behind Jade. Jade looks over her shoulder and sees Tori at her locker, watching them with a hesitant smile on her face.

Jade clenches her jaw and returns the smile. Clearing her throat again she catches Beck's attention and tilts her head to the side so that they can talk. He nods his head again and follows her.

They walk in silence for a while until they get to a secluded place.

"Right. So." Beck starts but stops, unsure of what else to say.

"Yeah." Jade mutters. _To hell with this. It's gonna hurt either way, might as well do it fast._ "There's no easy way to say this so... I think it'd be best if we break up."

The look on Beck's face falls and it hurts. Jade can see his jaw clenching and unclenching, working to form words or to keep from trembling.

"Right..." He finally says. His mouth opens and closes, his brows furrow. "Why?"

Jade sighs. _What do I tell him? The truth? Can I even do that?_

"I don't know, Beck. It just – I just don't feel right in this relationship anymore..." Jade trails off. It's the truth, but it's lacking. She knows it, but she hopes he doesn't.

He nods stiffly. "Don't I get a say? I'm in this relationship, too, you know."

Jade does her best not to roll her eyes. She nods and quickly adds, "You do. But whatever you have to say is not going to change my mind. Just letting you know." She tries not to sound angry, but fuck, she just wants this to be over already.

He laughs bitterly, "Of course. Because we always do what you say. I hardly ever get a say."

"Are you kidding me?" Jade spits out. "You never want a say! I say something and you just nod along. You never tell me no or suggest something else. No, you just nod you're stupid head and say 'yeah, sure, whatever you want, babe.'" Jade mimics Beck's voice.

He glares at her and throws up his hands. "Because if I do try to say anything you glare and get mad at me and – God! I just feel like such an inconvenience in your life!"

Jade tries to control her anger because what he said is true, kind of. "Look. I'm sorry, ok?" Jade offers lamely behind gritted teeth. "I'm sorry that you do, that was never my intention. I love you, you know? Just, not in the way that I did before."

They're late for class, she knows this, but she needs to make sure that he understands where she's coming from.

Beck shrugs his shoulders and looks down at his shows. "I know. Something felt off between us. I just couldn't put my finger on it. This makes sense." He sighs loudly and looks up at Jade, smiling sadly. "I love you, too, you know. I hope we can still be friends?"

Jade doesn't think he meant to say that as a question but she agrees anyway. "Yeah, of course. You're still my best friend."

He scrunches up his nose and laughs lowly, "Yeah, you're still mine , too." He clears his throat and straightens his back, offering an arm to Jade. "I guess we should head to class. Shall we?"

Jade gives him a half-smile and loops her arm through his.

* * *

By the time they get to class there is only 5 minutes left so they don't bother going in. They wait silently outside the classroom for the bell to ring so they can walk with their friends to the Asphalt Cafe since it's their lunch break.

Jade notices Beck looking at her through the corner of her eye and she tries not to let it bother her. _I know we just broke up but come on! This is creepy and annoying. Can't he just look elsewhere?_

Before she can say anything the bell rings and their classmates exit the class. Andre and Robbie walk out and both greet Jade before walking toward Beck. Cat and Tori are the last to exit and Jade is nervous. _This is not a good feeling. Never again do I want to feel like this._

"Hey Jade! Why weren't you in class?" Cat greets, a large smile on her face.

Jade notices Tori standing behind Cat, looking anywhere but at her. "Oh, got carried away talking with Beck."

Jade answers Cat's question but is looking at Tori the whole time. She notices Tori tense when she said that she didn't go to class because she was with Beck. _I wonder what she's thinking about._

Cat smiles and nods her head noncommittally, "Oh ok! Let's go eat. I'm hungry!" Cat bounces off before either of them could agree.

Jade and Tori are left standing there – awkwardly (_again with the awkward! I'm so over this._) - watching Cat literally bounce down the hall.

Neither girl talk or are making any effort to move. Instead they are standing there, Tori holding and scratching her throat – _a nervous habit? I guess._ - and Jade clenching her jaw with nerves. _I never feel like this before a play or a show! What the hell?_

Finally, after a long moment of awkward silence, Jade clears her throat. It startles Tori and she flinches.

"Sorry..." Jade mutters, not really sorry.

"It – it's okay." Tori replies. Moving her hand from her throat to her opposite arm, she asks, "So, how are you?"

Letting out a breath she was holding, Jade squints her eyes not sure how to answer. "I'm okay." _That's sort of true, I guess._ "How are you?"

"I'm..." Tori trails off and Jade can tell that she's battling whether to tell the truth or not. "Me too. I'm okay." Tori finally says, albeit hesitantly.

Another moment of silence – _and still awkward as hell, fuck!_ - Jade takes a step forward and nods her head to the side, inviting Tori to follow her.

Tori looking extremely nervous agrees and steps in stride with Jade. They walk silently until they get outside. They both stop right outside the doors, not sure what to do next.

_What are we doing? What am _I _doing? God, I fucking hate this. We need to talk; I know we do, but this is scary as shit... I hate feeling like this. Ok, you know what? Fuck this. We're talking, and we're talking now._

Making up her mind, Jade grabs Tori's arm and pulls her along until they are in the parking lot.

"Jade! What are you doing?" Tori says, trying to pull her arm free.

Jade grunts and tightens her grip. _We're almost to my car. Just – you can do this, Jade._

"Seriously, Jade. Where are you taking me?" Tori grits out, angrily and a little scared.

Jade catches her tone and loosens her grip. _Ok, maybe man-handling her wasn't best._ Letting out a sigh, Jade lets go of Tori's arm and presses her palms against her eyes.

"Ugh, Tori. Sorry for handling you like that. I just – I didn't want to lose my nerve." Jade all but mutters. _Yeah. Me, losing my nerve. That's fucking grand._

"Lose your nerve? What do you mean?" Tori questions.

Offering Tori her hand, Jade rolls her eyes and says, "Can we go to my car, please? I don't want to talk out here."

Tori's eyes widen and she quickly nods her head, accepting Jade's hand. Jade half-smiles and walks them to her car.

Unlocking the doors, Jade opens the passenger-side door for Tori and closes it when she gets in. _Why the hell not? Tori likes these kinds of things, right?_

Walking slowly to the driver's side door, Jade inhales deeply and exhales through her nose. Jade finally opens her door and gets in.

"Are you okay?" Tori asks when Jade closes her door.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm _grand_." Jade replies sarcastically. _I'm a fucking mess._

"How about you? Are you okay?" Jade asks back.

"Yeah. I'm – I'm okay. A little – actually, _a lot_ nervous." Tori says, laughing nervously.

Without thinking about it, Jade reaches over and grabs Tori's hand and squeezes. Jade feels Tori tense but she holds on until she relaxes. Reassuring.

"Look, Tori." Jade starts but stops, unsure. Tori turns her hand over and intertwines their fingers. Jade looks at their hands and then up at Tori and can't help but smile – albeit a small one – at the hopeful look in Tori's eyes.

"Look. I'm sorry for leaving your house last week with a promise that what happened this week wouldn't happen. I didn't want to not talk to you. I just – I was..." Jade trails off, letting out a loud sigh.

"You were afraid?" Tori offers softly.

Clenching her jaw, Jade nods stiffly. "Yeah, I suppose."

"It's just me, Jade. You can trust me." Tori smiles, swiping her thumb along the back of Jade's hand.

They sit in silence for a couple of minutes, enjoying the not-so-awkward silence. The bells rings, ending their lunch period and it startles Jade and Tori out of their silence.

Holding onto her hand to keep her from moving, Jade catches Tori's attention and smiles. "How about we go somewhere?"

Smiling widely, Tori agrees. "Where to?"

"I don't know... Your place?" Jade asks, grinning mischievously.

Biting her bottom lip, Tori pretends to think it over – _and God, she looks so good doing it, too._ – "Okay, let's go."

* * *

They arrived at Tori's house 10 minutes ago and they haven't said much to each other. Tori's leg is bouncing like crazy – and it's driving Jade crazy – and her fingers are fidgeting on her lap. Jade is tensing her jaw, wanting so badly to stop Tori from her nervous ticks.

"Stop!" Jade yells, her hand shooting across the space between them, landing on Tori's thigh, effectively stopping the bouncing.

Startled, Tori stops fidgeting all together and tries to stop the flush rising up her neck, to no avail. To ease the tension that grew around them, Jade smirks and gives a quick squeeze to Tori's thigh, patting it afterward before bringing her hand back to her own lap.

"Sorry for yelling, but God, you were driving me crazy." Jade says, amusement in her voice.

Looking down, embarrassed and somewhat amused, Tori smiles and shakes her head. "Sorry, I am just..." Tori sighs and rolls her eyes, "nervous."

"Understandable. I am quite intimidating and, you know, a babe... who wants you." Smirking, Jade shrugs her shoulder nonchalantly and tries to stifle the laugh that wants to come out at Tori's bewildered expression.

Muttering under her breath, Tori runs a hand through her hair as the other one rubs at an overheated cheek. She chances a glance at Jade sitting next to her – who seems to be having a _ball_ at her reaction – and quickly regrets it. Standing up, Tori quickly walks to the kitchen sink and splashes water on her face. It only helps to cool her down for 5 seconds.

_Wow, I was not expecting her to react that way but I'm so glad she did. This is fucking great._

Following suit, Jade stands up and walks into the kitchen, leaning against the counter next to Tori.

"You alright there? I know I'm hot but -" Jade starts but Tori's grip on her arm stops her.

"Please stop. You're going to kill me." Tori mumbles, still flushing furiously. Overheating in an extremely uncomfortable but pleasurable way.

Shrugging a shoulder, Jade smirks and walks away back into the living room. Tori, not letting go of Jade's arm, let's herself be dragged back by Jade. Jade sits down arching an eyebrow up at Tori as she continues to stand there looking down at her.

"So... You planning on standing there all day? Or are you going to have a seat?" Jade asks curiously.

Rolling her eyes, Tori sits gingerly next to Jade and huffs, "Happy?"

"Hmm, very." Jade hums, resting her arm along the back edge of the couch, behind Tori's head. After a minute of silence, Jade nudges her hip against Tori's and asks, "This isn't so bad, right?"

Looking down at the very little space between them Tori looks up at Jade's eyes and arches an eyebrow of her own. "Yeah. Actually, this is really nice."

"Yeah, you think?" Jade asks, hesitantly. _I don't like how she makes me feel so unsure... but ugh, I do like it._

"Yeah, Jade. I mean, you make me nervous beyond what I'm used to, but you also make me feel good... in a weird way, since you used to be, you know, mean to me." Tori looks a little sheepish at her confession but Jade finds it kind of endearing.

Smiling softly, Jade moves her arm that's resting on the back of the couch and moves it forward so that it's wrapped around Tori's shoulders. Tori tenses at first but quickly relaxes and scoots closer into Jade's side and lets out a small, content sigh. Mindlessly, she reaches over and plays with the hem of Jade's blouse, blushing.

"You know," Jade starts, halting so that Tori can look up. When she does, Jade smiles and brings Tori closer to her. "How this happened is beyond anything I could have imagined – have _ever_ imagined."

Tori scrunches her eyes and smiles knowingly. "You've thought about this?"

Jade rolls her eyes and clenches her jaw before licking her lips and nodding, "Yeah, unfortunately." Tori smacks her thigh and Jade laughs. "Ok, yeah I did. On late nights when I couldn't sleep, I entertained the idea."

"Yeah? And how did you imagine this happening?" Tori ventures softly, hopefully not pushing Jade with these questions.

_Why does she sound hesitant? I'm not going to push her away... I mean, I did start this._

"I don't know. Sometimes I imagined you being the one to confront me and confessing your feelings first, but most of the time I -"

"Wait! Why me first? What made you think I had feelings for you?" Tori interrupts, curiosity in her every word.

Arching an eyebrow, Jade rears her head back and quirks the side of her mouth. "Really, Tori? The way you acted around me, you were either obsessed with me in a creepy way or, you know, harbored some romantic-y feelings for me."

Feeling embarrassed Tori nods her head once and gestures for Jade to continue. "Right. As you were saying..."

Laughing lightly, Jade continues. "Right. As I was saying... I sometimes imagined you being the first one, but most of the time, I imagined us on graduation day. We just finished performing, everyone is in good spirits – I don't know if we'd have been dating or not, but I'd pull you aside and ask you on a date for later that night.

You'd say yes, we'd leave together after a graduation celebration, and go out. I'd take you to dinner, we'd eat and have a good time, and afterward I'd take you to this really nice spot up on the Hollywood hills I know and tell you there. You know, over the city with its bright lights and tall buildings and the stars and moon. I don't know, but it'd be great." Jade finishes lightly, a little embarrassed at having confessed such an intimate thought. She looks at Tori at her side and her heart palpitates intensely.

Sniffling, Tori breathes in deeply and smiles the softest, most genuine smile that Jade has ever seen. Tori grabs the hand that's resting on her shoulder and brings it over to her lips, placing a soft kiss on the back of Jade's hand.

"Oh, Jade..." Tori whispers. "That sounds wonderful. So wonderful; I would've loved that." She gushes but quickly adds, "Not that I didn't love the way you actually did it. I loved that way because it was so unexpected."

Tori places a hand softly on Jade's cheek and brings her face closer to her own. Millimeters apart, Jade smirks and rubs her nose lightly against Tori's.

"You like that romantic stuff, huh?" At Tori's quick nod, Jade laughs and leans forward, closing the little distance between them.

_God, what is it about this girl?_

"God, what is it about you?" Jade says aloud.

Finally closing the distance between them, Tori's lips meet Jade's soft lips and smiles against them. "_Mmm_," Tori hums against Jade's lips.

Running a hand though Tori's hair, Jade tilts her head to deepen the kiss and sighs contently. She bites lightly at Tori's bottom lip, running her tongue along it to soothe it and slips it in when Tori's lips part. The feeling of Tori's tongue against her own causes Jade to hold back a moan.

Pulling away for some much needed air, Tori licks her lips, eyes closing at the taste of Jade's lip gloss.

"You are something else, you know that?"

* * *

**A/N:** Wow, ok. So I feel like this chapter is SO ANTICLIMACTIC... BUT yeah. I had NO CLUE what to write for a second part; I should've just left it as a one-shot. I'm so much better at one-shots, haha.

Anyway, I was NOT expecting for this (the last chapter) to get the amount of reviews it did and stuff, but like, I am so happy that it did and that you all enjoyed it. Thank you so much!

And now I feel bad about this chapter, but I AM STUCk. SO, yeah.

If you could review, that'd be great, but thanks for reading this anyway.

You all are so great.

xx


	3. Chapter 3

It's been a hectic summer.

Graduation has come and gone.

Jade had planned a special day and night for her and Tori (and their friends, but Jade wasn't exactly privy to hanging out with them – she did have Tori, after all).

She took Tori up to that special spot up on the Hollywood Hills near the Hollywood sign. She brought a picnic basket loaded with a variation of Tori's favorite snacks, some drinks, and a plaid blanket for them to sit on. It was a rather warm night and up on the hills, the city below them gave them a wonderful view; the sky above them also gave a wonderful view, with brilliant stars filling the sky and the moon a lovely glow. Words were said – few, yet full of meaning – kisses shared, and cuddling happened.

It was a rather perfect night.

And now, now it was a few weeks until college started and everyone was full of stress.

Everyone was going their own way.

Beck got accepted into a prestigious acting school on the east coast; Robbie, into a school of technology also on the east coast; Andre (who performed at their graduation where a music producer was present) got signed onto do a demo for a popular music company; Cat, along with Tori and Jade, was staying on the west coast. Cat wasn't exactly ready to go to a college or university – instead, she was just happy to perform here and there and just live life. Whereas Tori and Jade were both accepted into a prestigious university in Los Angeles – Tori was to study music and Jade, theater.

So yeah, it was a very hectic summer for this tightknit group of friends.

It was their last week together before they started going their own way and they wanted to make the most of it. And they did.

They all gathered on a Saturday morning to go apartment hunting for Tori and Jade.

"Wait, so who asked who to move in together?" Robbie asked, perplexed at the idea of Jade and Tori living together.

Tori laughed softly and placed a hand on Jade's shoulder, who was scowling. "Jade did," Tori answered amusement in her voice.

Walking down the street, Andre and Beck shared a raised eyebrow and Andre asked how. Scowl deepening, Jade scoffed and pushed past them, growling over her shoulder, "_That_ is none of your goddamn business."

"Oh, come on, Jade." Tori smiled at her. "It wasn't that bad," Looking to her friends, she added, "It was actually really sweet."

"_Sweet_," Jade muttered, "Yeah, right."

"Yes, _sweet_," Tori answered back. "It was our anniversary. I had planned the day for us to go out and do stuff – which was really fun, by the way – and when it got to dinner – "

"TORI!" Jade yelled, "Don't you _dare_ tell them."

"Or what, Jade? You won't move in with me?" Tori replied with a smirk.

Scowling, Jade inhaled a deep breath and turned around, exhaling loudly. "Fine. Tell Them. See if I care."

"Thanks, babe." Jade could just _hear_ Tori's damn smirk. Continuing, Tori stepped into pace with Andre and Beck, "Like I was saying… When we got to dinner, Jade started acting really weird. Like, she was fidgeting, sweating – which was weird because Jade doesn't sweat –, stuttering, and just acting really nervous. So I was obviously worried, you know? I had never seen her act like that before.

But somewhere in my mind I knew something big was coming, I just wasn't sure _what_. At first, I thought she was going to propose!" Tori laughed, along with Beck, Andre, Robbie and Cat. "But then I thought, 'no, no way is Jade going to ask that'. So I tried not thinking about it, and dinner continued smoothly and Jade seemed to have calmed down a bit – which was great, because I didn't have to worry as much. Anyway, we finished our meals and we were just sitting there, talking, when all of a sudden she stood up." Tori smiled lovingly at the memory of that night.

"She was standing there with fidgeting hands and a shaky smile, and I just knew something was coming. Then she started walking around the table to stand in front of me and the next thing I know is that her face was in my lap." Everyone laughed and further in front of them, Jade growled and groaned loudly. Tori quickened her steps and slid her arms around Jade's waist, successfully stopping an upset Jade, and rested her chin on her shoulder.

In a softer voice, Tori continued. "She tripped on her shoelace." Placing a small kiss on the side of Jade's neck, Tori smiled and nuzzled. "And then she groaned really loudly _in my lap_ and, well, yeah. That's a whole other thing." They were stopped at a crosswalk and their friends were chuckling lightly. "After a few minutes of her sulking and hiding in embarrassment in my lap, I finally nudged her up. She leaned back on her heels – reluctantly, I might add – and inhaled the biggest breath ever. _And finally_, she asked me to move in with her." Smiling fondly at Jade, Tori slipped around so that she was standing in front of Jade.

"I was taken by surprise. I just kind of gaped at her like a fish out of water." Laughing, Tori leaned forward and pressed a chaste kiss to the side of Jade's mouth. "Then, I think she got mad or something, because she looked at me with furrowed eyebrows and thin lips; I sobered quickly at that. I cupped her cheeks and brought her forward, and I whispered '_yes_' against her lips and kissed her, hard. In front of everyone. We actually got a few applauds." Groaning, though not out of upset, quite the opposite actually, Jade smiled softly and kissed Tori.

"Yeah, we did." Jade growled against Tori's lips.

Coughing slightly, Robbie mumbled, "That actually was kind of sweet."

Turning around, Jade shot him and everyone else a look that said 'yeah, and don't you _ever_ tell anyone about that.' Shivering at the look, everyone nodded their heads and promised not to.

"Good." Jade announced. "Now let's get on with this already."

XxX

Apartment hunting with their friends was something Jade did not want to do again. They were of no help. None at all which made Jade more frustrated beyond belief and Tori spent most of the time trying to stop Jade from hurting their friends.

Cat liked every place, jumping from room to room, pointing out things that she really liked. Robbie trailed after Cat like a lovesick teenage boy – which he totally was. Beck kind of sulked – though he tried hiding it, unsuccessfully, and that he and Jade hadn't been together for a while. Andre was actually helpful but he had to leave halfway through because he had a meeting with the record company.

But at the last three apartments they were going to check out, Jade gave up, growled loudly, and sent everyone besides Tori home.

"I'm tired. I just want to check these last three out with Tori without Cat's loud squealing, Robbie's waste of space, and Beck's sulking. So, _please_," Jade gritted out, "leave us alone."

Tori smiled apologetically at their friends and said that they'd meet up the next day. Jade rubbed at her temples in a soothing manner next to her. Robbie, Cat, and Beck apologized and left quickly before Jade could get her hands on them.

After they all left and Jade had time to cool down, she turned around and gave her a small smile. "Sorry about that. I just – I couldn't anymore." Laughing bitterly though grateful to finally be alone, Jade slipped her hand into Tori's and pulled her forward.

"It's okay, I understand. They were giving me a headache." With her free hand Tori reached across her body and gripped Jade's arm, giving a small squeeze. "Now, let's go check these last three apartments out. I have a good feeling we're going to find the one."

xXx

And they did. They found the perfect apartment for the perfect price. It was big enough to not feel so cluttered but small enough that it wasn't overbearing; it had large windows with a view that wasn't so bad and an open kitchen big enough for the both of them to not crash into each other.

Tori was elated and Jade was just glad that they didn't have to look around anymore.

They had a couple of weeks to pack before they were set to move in.

Standing in the doorway of their recently signed apartment, Tori slipped her arm around Jade's waist and rested her head on Jade's shoulder. "This is going to be good, right? We're not rushing into this?"

Placing a kiss on the top of Tori's head, Jade shrugged softly, "I don't know if we're rushing into this or not, but I do know this is going to be good. It's already good. And I just know that it's going to get better."

"I love it when you get all sappy," Tori teased, chuckling at Jade's low groan. "Come on, babe. Let's go. We have some packing to do."

"Packing?" Jade scoffed, "Tori, we just signed the place. We're going to get some food, go to your place, and watch some movies in your room."

Pulling Tori out of the apartment building and out into the clear, warm night, Tori stopped suddenly, jerking Jade backwards. "What the hell, Tori!"

"I'm sorry, but..." Trailing off, Tori walked up to Jade and back towards the wall of their soon-to-be building. Placing her hands on either side of Jade's head, she growled when Jade placed her hands on Tori's waist and squeezed.

"But what?" Jade husked out.

"But nothing," Tori replied lowly, "I just wanted to..."

Leaning forward Tori stopped just millimeters from Jade's lips and smiled, "Kiss you." She leaned the rest of the way and placed a soft kiss against Jade's soft lips. "And tell you just how much I love you." Tori sucked Jade's bottom lip into her mouth and bit it lightly, shivering at the small moan Jade made.

Jade growled lowly and wrapped her arms tightly around Tori's waist and brought her in closer, deepening the kiss. "I love you, too," Jade said softly when Tori moved lower and started placing hot, wet, open mouthed kisses along Jade's throat. "But how about you sho-ow," Jade stuttered when Tori sucked on her pulse point, "just how much you lo-ove me."

Laughing softly, Tori kissed the side of Jade's mouth and pulled back, a smirk in place.

"Let's go, then." She husked deeply, swaying her hips tantalizingly as she started walking away from Jade.

Taking a deep breath, Jade muttered, "What _is _it about this girl?" under her breath and hurried to follow Tori.

Jade caught up to Tori and slipped her hand into Tori's, smirking at Tori's flushed face. "Oh yeah," Jade began, smirk deepening, "This is going to be _good_."

Laughing softly, Tori's flushed darkened and smiled lovingly at Jade, "You are something else, you know that, right?"

* * *

**A/N:** I'm so sorry for taking so long to finish this and I'm sorry about this chapter! I just... sorry! I completely forgot that I hadn't completed this yet.

So sorry for the long wait. I want to thank boltzolt for messaging me and reminding me to finish this, so thanks!

Also, don't know if anyone noticed - maybe after this chapter - but I kind of wrote this as a ~prequel to my 'What are you thinking about?' stories in mind.

Review if you'd like! Thank you for reading. I truly appreciate everyone who does read this and those who review.

Thank you so much!

Have a great day!


End file.
